Take a Shot

Craft beer still grabs the headlines.

But in the Tampa region, vodka revivals are all the rage.

Consider Ram Ramcharran, who recently breathed new life into Fat Dog Spirits, an artisan distillery founded in 2003 in Ybor City by investment banker Nick Carboni. Ramcharran and his primary business partners, liquor retail veteran Raj Patel and former Florida State University and NFL running back Reggie Johnson, have repositioned the company and its signature product, Touch Vodka. They've also refined, repackaged and expanded Fat Dog's line of handcrafted spirits, made with novel ingredients such as Valencia oranges, Key limes and honey.